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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24567733">Night Visitor</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 03:34:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,749</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24567733</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Facing a bad situation that's only getting worse, Psiren and Winry decide to take on new roles.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Winry Rockbell/Psiren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Night Visitor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was after midnight when Winry heard the familiar creak at her window pane, and quickly got out of bed remembering not to turn on the lights.  She threw aside the curtains and unlocked the window, looking in vain for the figure in black who was nowhere to be seen.</p>
<p>“Psiren?” she whispered.  Her hands were starting to shake.  “Are you out here?”  Something must have happened.  Something must have gone wrong.</p>
<p>“Up here, Win.”  And before she could react, Psiren was easing herself down from the under the eaves of the roof, her movements stiff and jerky.  There were no somersaults tonight, no playful, teasing showmanship.  The bat-winged costume was torn in several places, and Winry could smell the blood seeping through.  </p>
<p>There were a million questions she wanted to ask as she helped Psiren through the window, but all of them were going to have to wait.  “Sit down right here.”  Winry pulled up the nearest chair.  “I’m going downstairs for bandages.”</p>
<p>“Right.”  Psiren winced as she sat down, but smiled up at her.  “Don’t look so heartbroken, sweetheart.  It’s just a couple of scratches.” </p>
<p>A couple of scratches that were leaving spots of blood on the floor.  But Winry nodded, and smiled back.  “Right,” she said, before hurrying out of the room, trying to remember everything Granny had said about keeping a cool head during emergencies.  What she wouldn’t give to have Granny here now.  </p>
<p>Winry hurried down the corridor, moving quietly so as not to wake any of her students sleeping in the adjacent rooms.  There weren’t so many left since the hostilities had started up again in the city, but she’d been adamant about keeping the school open as long as they could.  Paninya and Leo had agreed with her, and had stayed on though the other teachers and staff had gone.</p>
<p>The first aid supplies were right under the stairs where Winry had left them since the last time.  She checked them over: cotton bandages, disinfectant, antiseptic cream, tape, scissors, styptic powder, and sutures.  Clean cloths and water she could get from the bathroom.  No painkillers were left, unfortunately.  But Leo did have a bottle of whisky stashed in the automail lab…</p>
<p>By the time Winry got back, the mask and gloves were off.  Clara was struggling with the zipper of her costume, trying to wiggle her right arm free of the tight material. </p>
<p>“Hold on.  I’ll help.”  Winry set the supplies down and got out the scissors.</p>
<p>Clara frowned.  “Don’t you dare think about cutting up my costume, Win.  This is my last one.”  She stood up on unsteady legs and grimaced, clutching at her side.  “Just help me take it off, would you?”</p>
<p>Winry quickly went to support her.  “If you would worry about yourself as much as you worry about that costume – ”  She fumbled with the zipper between Clara’s breasts, feeling her hot breath against the side of her face.  It wouldn’t go down, so she worked it up again slowly, before reversing direction and giving a hard tug.  The smooth fabric parted beneath Winry’s hands, revealing soft skin beneath, dampened by sweat and blood.  </p>
<p>Clara was the most gorgeous woman Winry knew, and certainly the least inhibited.  Under the tight suit she wasn’t wearing anything at all, as usual.  Winry couldn’t count the number of times she’d been “accosted” by the master thief when Psiren suddenly had the urge for a quick grope while she was on the prowl.  Stopping by just for quick patch-up jobs had been a relatively rare thing.  It was the other way around these days.  </p>
<p>It was hard to see without a lamp, but they couldn’t take the risk of the light being noticed.  The weather was warm, though, and Clara claimed she was perfectly comfortable stretched out on blankets on the floor, so they could use the moonlight.  Winry uncovered dozens of dark bruises, both fresh and fading.  Cuts and abrasions were fewer, but several of the wounds were deep.  The worst were the gashes in Clara’s side, long parallel lacerations that looked like they’d been made by claws.</p>
<p>“It’s bad, isn’t it?”  Clara was breathing heavily, her bared breasts rising and falling.  Winry could see the curved lines of the alchemy array tattoo intersecting them, still glowing with the faint violet light of a recent reaction.  She had traced them countless times with her fingers and could draw them in the dark from memory.  </p>
<p>“You’ll be just fine,” she told Clara firmly, passing her the whiskey, determined not to fall apart in front of her.  “It isn’t nearly as bad as that time with the bomb shrapnel.  Have a drink while I clean these for you.”  </p>
<p>It was just another bad night, one that would pass the way all the other bad nights had passed.  Winry brought over the basin of water and started to clean out the wounds and stymie the bleeding.  With any luck, they wouldn’t become infected. </p>
<p>Clara took a swig from the bottle, staring at the ceiling.  “Are the kids all right?  They haven’t tried attacking the school again, have they?”  She had to be in pain, but there was a lopsided grin on her face.</p>
<p>Winry shook her head and smiled back.  “Not since Paninya and I brought out the flamethrower.”</p>
<p>“Good girl.”  Clara sounded a little woozy, probably from the blood loss.  Still, it was better to be safe than sorry.</p>
<p>“Any head injuries?”  Winry asked, wringing out the washcloth in the basin.  “Any problems with your vision you want to admit to before I ask how many fingers I’m holding up?”  </p>
<p>“No concussion tonight.  Trust me.”  She put down the whiskey bottle and sighed.  “I never thought it would get this awful in Central.  Playing freedom fighter was only supposed to be a temporary thing.”</p>
<p>“But you’re so good at it.”  Winry got out the disinfectant and started applying it carefully.  “Everyone has so much hope in you.  Psiren’s turning into quite a folk hero for the refugees.”</p>
<p>Clara winced as Winry started working on the lacerations in her side.  “I liked being a bad girl better.  It was a lot less complicated, and I could run away from fights without feeling – Ow!”</p>
<p>“Sorry.”  Winry clenched her hands, trying to keep them steady.  It was easier if she could just get her mind to distance itself, and think of the first aid like just another mechanical problem with one of the automail.  But Clara wasn’t automail, and Winry only had rudimentary medical training.  All she could do was try to keep things from getting worse until a real doctor could come. </p>
<p>“It was a chimera,” Clara said, holding the end of the bandage as Winry unwound it. </p>
<p>“Hmm?” </p>
<p>“You want to ask me what caused the claw marks.  I got mauled by one of the military’s panther chimera near the train station.  They brought them out for riot control, if you can believe it.” </p>
<p>“Riot control?  Winry paused, shaken.  “You mean they let them loose on civilians?”  Clara didn’t answer, but from the grim expression on her face, Winry understood.  </p>
<p>She had never trusted the military, and even less since Colonel Hawkeye’s unit had left Central, but it was unthinkable that they would resort to this.  Winry remembered Rose talking about the fall of Lior, and how it had happened so fast, no one really understood the enormity of the escalation until they woke up to the nightmare of full-scale war.  And suddenly all the rules and all the laws were gone.</p>
<p>Clara’s hands fisted at her sides.  “I have to get back out there.  If the Aquaroyan refugees think I’m dead – ”</p>
<p>“No.”  Winry shook her head, knowing immediately what she was considering.  “If you go back out there like this, you really are going to be dead.”</p>
<p>“Winry.”  Clara’s voice was soft, and she reached up to touch her arm.</p>
<p>“I’ll tie you to the bed if I have to, but you’re staying here.”  Winry said sternly.  She busied herself with the bandages, taping them into place as neatly as she could.  “I’m not going to let you make a martyr of yourself.”  </p>
<p>“That really would ruin my reputation for good,” Clara laughed softly, “But I can’t stay.  They need me.  You said it yourself that they’ve put their hope in me.  How can Psiren abandon them now?”  And just as Winry finished with the bandages, Clara was propping herself up, trying to get to her feet again.</p>
<p>Knowing another fight was the last thing they both needed, Winry did the only thing she could think of.  She snatched up Psiren’s costume from the floor, and started unlacing her nightdress.  “You can leave that to me.”</p>
<p>“Winry, what are you doing?”  Clara had managed to sit up, leaning against the bed.  She watched Winry undress with an expression of mild disbelief.</p>
<p>“All they need is to see you and know you’re all right.  That’ll be enough.”  She slipped into the familiar black leggings, then zipped herself into the rest of the outfit.  It wasn’t a bad fit.  A little loose in the chest, but then she’d expected that. </p>
<p>“You’re crazy.”  Clara smiled, shaking her head.  “Win, you don’t need to do this.  I’m fine.”</p>
<p>She looked beautiful, wearing nothing but a bathrobe open to her waist.  In other circumstances, Winry would’ve been tempted to linger.  But Clara didn’t look fine, not with her shoulders slumping and the robe stained with dark patches of drying blood.  She’d been pushing herself too hard for too long, but it was awfully hard to see when she was Psiren.    </p>
<p>“It shouldn’t take long.”  Winry tucked her hair up under the hood, adjusting the mask and batwings.  A strange sort of nervous energy was coursing through her, and her determination grew stronger.  “Please lie down, or the wounds will take longer to close up.  You don’t want my first aid to go to waste, do you?”</p>
<p>And then Clara was behind her, arms holding her tight.  “If you’re not back in two hours, I’m going to come after you.”  Her breath was warm against the back of Winry’s neck, and she was shaking, but not from cold or pain.</p>
<p>“Don’t worry.”  And she turned and kissed her on the lips.  Clara was breathing heavily.  Even those few steps had taken a lot out of her. </p>
<p>She felt like crying too, but she was Psiren, and Psiren didn’t cry.  </p>
<p>Instead, she smiled.  “I’ll take the flamethrower with me.”</p>
<p>--- </p>
<p>The End</p>
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